The present embodiments relate to image processing, in general, and in particular to processing of real-time stereoscopic vision images.
Stereoscopic 3D has gained significant importance in the entertainment industry today. However, production of high quality stereoscopic content is still a challenging art that requires mastering the complex interplay of human perception, 3D display properties, and artistic intent.
The entertainment industry is steadily moving towards stereoscopic 3D (S3D) movie production, and the number of movie titles released in S3D is continuously increasing. The production of stereoscopic movies, however, is more demanding than traditional movies, as S3D relies on a sensitive illusion created by projecting two different images to the viewer's eyes. It therefore requires proper attention to achieve a pleasant depth experience. Any imperfections, especially when accumulated over time, can cause wrong depth perception and adverse effects, such as eye strain, fatigue, or even motion sickness. The primary challenge of S3D is the complex interplay of human perception, 3D display properties, and content composition. The latter, in particular, represents the artistic objective of using depth as an element of storytelling, which often stands in contrast to problems that can arise due to inconsistent depth cues. From a production perspective, this presents a highly complex and non-trivial problem for content creation, which has to satisfy all of these technical, perceptual, and artistic objectives. Unfortunately, shooting high-quality, stereoscopic, live video content remains an art that has been mastered only by a small group of individuals. More specifically, the difficulty arises from the fact that in addition to setting traditional camera parameters (e.g., zoom, shutter speed, aperture, focus), S3D-related parameters, such as camera interaxial distance and convergence plane, have to be set correctly to create the intended depth effect. Adjusting all these parameters for complex, dynamically changing scenes poses additional challenges. Furthermore, scene cuts and shot framing have to be handled appropriately in order to provide a perceptually pleasing experience. These problems become even more pronounced for live broadcast of stereoscopic content, such as in sports applications. Capturing high-quality stereoscopic 3D footage therefore requires very sophisticated equipment along with the craftsmanship of an experienced stereographer all of which makes the S3D production inherently difficult and expensive.